Repairing a Cracked Steering Bar

he Messerschmitt steering bar is prone to cracking, especially on the side with the door strap which gets the wrong side of the bar putting undue pressure on that arm of the bar. It is also often the side which gets used to tweak the steering when the car is at standstill. So prevention is to always check the door strap into free position as you open the door by habit. Do not turn the steering unless the car is rolling. Do not let people sit in the car and turning the steering like a demented gibbon.

Background

Several facts to know about steering bars: Early cars have a different, thinner steering bar design to later cars — I think the change was about early 1958. The inner design and taper remained the same so they are interchangable. The central boss is made of quite soft material containing the common taper insert. Through this and inside the outer moulded casing is a very tough bar of oval steel alloy — you would struggle to get a hacksaw through it! This assembly has a material somewhere between Bakelite and rubber moulded to it. The oval bar, though very strong, does flex and it is this flex that leads to the case cracking. Worse is that corrosion can get into the assembly and the casing is forced off by the expanding oxidation. A bar with corrosion is a difficult thing to restore just by filling. Also, be aware the case is quite brittle to impact. If the whole bar is dropped it is not unknown for the casing to shatter off in pieces.If the whole bar is dropped it is not unknown for the casing to shatter off in pieces. Attempts to remake the steering bar have failed, as the oval bar is not simple to replicate. There was a scheme to remould reclaimed steering bars in Germany by Wolfgang Kraus but I do not know if it is still in operation.

Steering Bar Puller: This tool is another Russell Church product.

Removal

A cracked steering bar is not an MOT failure in Britain. This is because it is a handle bar not a steering wheel. In fact the cracks are really just unsightly as the oval steel bar takes all the strain and is probably the strongest bit of the car! The casing is reparable however and will sand and cut in a totally safe and predictable way using hand tools. To do this simply it is best to remove the steering bar from the column. However this is not as simple as it sounds, as normally special tools are required. This is because the steering column nut and column is shrouded by the design of the centre of the bar, which is at an angle to the plan of the column. The taper needs considerable force to break it normally. So a peg spanner is needed to remove the soft metal steering centre nut and then a special puller with a correctly sized slot and a tough steel pin to clear the edge of the horn push hole yet with an end to fit flush on the column are required. Not using these risk destroying the nut with a screwdriver and hammer, ouch, and adding further cracks to the steering bar. Hammering the bar from the taper is a none starter really. The steering bar will be damaged and worse the taper can be hit damaging it for refit. Ill-fitting pullers can wreck the thread on the column and damage the edge of the horn hole. So size the job up before getting into difficulties. Tools can be bought or made. The peg spanner can be made from an old socket by cutting back the end leaving two parts now acting as pegs. The puller is trickier.

Steering Bar: Epoxy filler can be used to fill the cracks.

Repair

Anyway, having got the steering bar to the workshop, on or off the column, clean up the areas to be repaired and gently remove the paint from the area with wet and dry. The recognised method is to then to cut a V shape opening up the crack. Clean out the dust and this can now be filled. Ordinary filler will not do, as it does not bond sufficiently to the remaining casing material. You need to use a product that has an epoxy glue element within in its specification. Otherwise your finished bar will crack in the same places as before. By choice you want a product that is workable when dry too. It is a bit of a trade off. I used to use raw Araldite 20 odd years ago, which prevented new cracks but was very hard to work into a perfect finish. Car filler is not tough enough… I suggest testing before you commit yourself but I have found a two-part epoxy based ceramic filler, which works well.

In the pictures I have downloaded the restorer, Terry Cassem, has gone one stage further by running extra set of channels at 45 degrees to the original damage. This is to aid the repair to tie together with the original material and create a stronger bond. Once dry the repair needs to be shaped. You can use fine wet and dry on the bar and the underlying material itself is black. Once the profile is restored then it is a simple job to paint the steering bar. It is sensible to include the dismantled horn push in this so as everything is the same colour. Ford Opal white is a very close match to the original colour.